Professor Ronald Frank pictured against the backdrop of SMU's Bukit Timah campus
This undated photograph features Professor Ronald E Frank with SMU's Bukit Timah campus as a symbolic backdrop to the university's formative years.
Professor Frank, or Ron as he affectionately known, joined SMU’s board of trustees in 2000 and assumed his role as SMU’s second president in September 2001. His tenure coincided with a period of rapid growth, during which SMU expanded its academic offerings with the establishment of the School of Economics and Social Sciences and the School of Information Systems, significantly increased its faculty and student population, and celebrated the graduation of its first cohort. Under his leadership, SMU received landmark gifts from Dr Li Ka-shing and the Lee Foundation, enabling the development of the Li Ka Shing Library, student scholarships, and the naming of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. After stepping down as President in 2005, he continued to support the university as an advisor to its senior leadership. Professor Frank also played a key role in planning SMU’s city campus, which opened in 2005.
Professor Frank, or Ron as he affectionately known, joined SMU’s board of trustees in 2000 and assumed his role as SMU’s second president in September 2001. His tenure coincided with a period of rapid growth, during which SMU expanded its academic offerings with the establishment of the School of Economics and Social Sciences and the School of Information Systems, significantly increased its faculty and student population, and celebrated the graduation of its first cohort. Under his leadership, SMU received landmark gifts from Dr Li Ka-shing and the Lee Foundation, enabling the development of the Li Ka Shing Library, student scholarships, and the naming of the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. After stepping down as President in 2005, he continued to support the university as an advisor to its senior leadership. Professor Frank also played a key role in planning SMU’s city campus, which opened in 2005.